Method and system for identifying recipients of a reward associated with a conversion

ABSTRACT

The present teaching relates to a method and a system for advertising. The method obtains information about a conversion associated with an advertisement and generates with respect to the conversion, an operational smart attribution evaluation package (SAEP). The SAEP includes a conversion parameter and a reward. The method transmits the SAEP to a platform to be posted, and thereafter receives from the SAEP, an indication of an entity which is estimated to be associated with the conversion and to which the reward is to be allocated. The entity is determined by the SAEP based on the conversion parameter and information from a plurality of entities that displayed the advertisement.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/997,042, filed on Jun. 4, 20118, which is related to U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/997,073, filed on Jun. 4, 2018, U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/997,090, filed on Jun. 4, 2018, U.S.application Ser. No. 18/062,788 filed on Dec. 5, 2022, and U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 18/170,728 filed on Feb. 17, 2023, the contents ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field

The present teaching relates generally to advertisements. Specifically,the present teaching relates to method and system for evaluatingconversions associated with an advertisement and identifying recipientsof a reward associated with the conversion.

2. Technical Background

The advancement in the Internet has made it possible to sell and buyonline products or services through the Internet. Advertisers typicallydistribute advertisements over the Internet in one of the media types,including text, audio, video, image, multi-media content, or anycombination thereof. The advertisements are usually displayed acrossvarious platforms. Publishers that control the platforms acquire theadvertisements from advertisers and publish them for users to view.

Upon viewing the advertisement, a user may interact with theadvertisement and perform an action e.g., purchase a product, downloadan application, etc. Some actions may correspond to conversion eventsassociated with the advertisement and are desirable because they providea tangible return on investment for the advertiser. Thus, from theprospective of the advertiser, it is important to determine whichpublisher(s) provide a high rate of conversion events.

Traditionally, to determine which publishers are responsible for aparticular conversion, the advertiser communicates with a central entityreferred to as a third party attribution provider (3PP). The 3PPcommunicates with multiple publishers to identify the publisher(s) thatwere associated with a successful conversion related to theadvertisement. The 3PP may carry out the task based on its ownproprietary process to identify the publishers associated with theconversion. Such proprietary process may be configured with bias infavor of certain publishers over others. As a result, the advertiser maynot receive factually accurate information as to which publisher(s)delivered more desirable return.

Thus, there is a need to develop a solution to identify publishersresponsible for a conversion associated with an advertisement in atransparent and efficient manner.

SUMMARY

The teachings disclosed herein relate to methods, systems, andprogramming for advertising. More particularly, the present teachingrelates to techniques of evaluating conversions associated with anadvertisement, and identifying recipients of a reward associated withthe conversions.

In one example, there is provided a method implemented on a machinehaving at least one processor, storage, and a communication platformcapable of connecting to a network for advertising. The method obtainsinformation about a conversion associated with an advertisement andgenerates with respect to the conversion, an operational smartattribution evaluation package (SAEP). The SAEP includes a conversionparameter and a reward. The method transmits the SAEP to a platform tobe posted, and thereafter receives from the SAEP, an indication of anentity which is estimated to be associated with the conversion and towhich the reward is to be allocated. The entity is determined by theSAEP based on the conversion parameter and information from a pluralityof entities that displayed the advertisement.

In a different example, there is disclosed a system for advertising. Thesystem comprises a conversion receiving unit that is configured toobtain information about a conversion associated with an advertisement.The system includes an operational smart attribution evaluation package(SAEP) creating unit configured to generate with respect to theconversion a SAEP, wherein the SAEP includes a conversion parameter anda reward. The system also includes a SAEP initiating unit configured totransmit the generated SAEP to a platform to be posted, and an updatereceiving unit configured to receive from the SAEP, an indication of anentity which is estimated to be associated with the conversion and towhich the reward is to be allocated. The entity is determined by theSAEP based on the conversion parameter and information from a pluralityof entities that displayed the advertisement.

Other concepts relate to software for implementing the present teachingof evaluating a conversion associated with an advertisement. A softwareproduct, in accord with this concept, includes at least onemachine-readable non-transitory medium and information carried by themedium. The information carried by the medium may be executable programcode data, parameters in association with the executable program code,and/or information related to a user, a request, content, or informationrelated to a social group, etc.

In one example, there is disclosed a non-transitory machine-readablemedium having information recorded thereon, wherein the information,when read by the machine, causes the machine to perform a method foradvertising. The method obtains information about a conversionassociated with an advertisement and generates with respect to theconversion, an operational smart attribution evaluation package (SAEP).The SAEP includes a conversion parameter and a reward. The methodtransmits the SAEP to a platform to be posted, and thereafter receivesfrom the SAEP, an indication of an entity which is estimated to beassociated with the conversion and to which the reward is to beallocated. The entity is determined by the SAEP based on the conversionparameter and information from a plurality of entities that displayedthe advertisement.

Additional novel features will be set forth in part in the description,which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in theart upon examination of the following and the accompanying drawings ormay be learned by production or operation of the examples. The novelfeatures of the present teachings may be realized and attained bypractice or use of various aspects of the methodologies,instrumentalities and combinations set forth in the detailed examplesdiscussed below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The methods, systems and/or programming described herein are furtherdescribed in terms of exemplary embodiments. These exemplary embodimentsare described in detail with reference to the drawings. Theseembodiments are non-limiting exemplary embodiments, in which likereference numerals represent similar structures throughout the severalviews of the drawings, and wherein:

FIG. 1 (Prior Art) is a high-level depiction of an exemplary networkedenvironment for evaluating conversions associated with advertisements;

FIG. 2 is a high-level depiction of an exemplary networked environmentfor evaluating sources of conversions associated with advertisements, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present teaching;

FIG. 3A illustrates an exemplary diagram of an operational smartattribution evaluation package (SAEP), in accordance with an embodimentof the present teaching;

FIG. 3B illustrates meta-information included in a SAEP, in accordancewith an embodiment of the present teaching;

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary diagram of an advertiser that generatesa SAEP, according to an embodiment of the present teaching;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an exemplary process performed by anadvertiser, in accordance with an embodiment of the present teaching;

FIG. 6A illustrates an exemplary diagram of a publisher, according to anembodiment of the present teaching;

FIG. 6B illustrates impression data included in an impression databaseof a publisher, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentteaching;

FIG. 6C is a flowchart of an exemplary process performed by a publisher,in accordance with an embodiment of the present teaching;

FIG. 7A illustrates an exemplary diagram of an attribution evaluatorincluded in a SAEP, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentteaching;

FIG. 7B is a flowchart of an exemplary process performed by anattribution evaluator of a SAEP, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent teaching;

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary protocol scheme of an attributionprocess, in accordance with an embodiment of the present teaching;

FIG. 9 illustrates another protocol scheme of an attribution process, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present teaching;

FIG. 10 depicts the architecture of a mobile device, which can be usedto implement a specialized system incorporating the present teaching;and

FIG. 11 depicts the architecture of a computer, which can be used toimplement a specialized system incorporating the present teaching.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the presentteaching, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings. While the present teaching will be described in conjunctionwith the embodiments, it will be understood that they are not intendedto limit the present teaching to these embodiments. On the contrary, thepresent teaching is intended to cover alternatives, modifications, andequivalents, which may be included within the spirit and scope of thepresent teaching as defined by the appended claims.

In addition, in the following detailed description of embodiments of thepresent teaching, numerous specific details are set forth in order toprovide a thorough understanding of the present teaching. However, itwill be recognized by one of ordinary skill in the art that the presentteaching may be practiced without these specific details. In otherinstances, well-known methods, procedures, components, and circuits havenot been described in detail as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects ofthe embodiments of the present teaching.

Various embodiments in accordance with the present teaching provide amethod and system related to advertising. More specifically, the methodand system in various embodiments of the present teaching are related toevaluating sources of conversions associated with advertisements.

A publisher may provide an online service or content, e.g., at a websiteor a mobile application, to a user. The online service or content may bepresented to the user with multiple advertisements in various formatssuch as brand advertisements e.g., at some fixed position(s) of a webpage, or a stream advertisement in a content stream on a web page, whereboth the advertisements may be presented to the user at different orsubstantially the same time. Online advertisements may include bannerads, links to web pages, images, video, text, other multimedia formats,or the like.

An advertiser is typically interested in a return on investment (ROI)made on brand, streaming, and other types of advertisements. A metricfor measuring ROI is advertisement conversion. Conversion refers to anaction that is performed when an advertisement consumer (i.e., a user)interacts with the advertisement (for example, clicks a text ad or viewsa video ad) and may then further proceed to an action that is deemedvaluable for business e.g., an online purchase. It is important foradvertisers to know which publisher(s) provide them with higher ROI. Inother words, advertisers are interested in identifying the publisher(s)that yield a higher rate of conversions. As defined herein, the processof linking a conversion to a click action or any other measureableaction on the publishers end is referred to as an attribution process(i.e., evaluation of a conversion associated with an advertisement).

Additional features will be set forth in part in the description, whichfollows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the artupon examination of the following and the accompanying drawings or maybe learned by production or operation of the examples. Further,throughout the present specification and claims, terms may have nuancedmeanings suggested or implied in context beyond an explicitly statedmeaning. Likewise, the phrase “in one embodiment” as used herein doesnot necessarily refer to the same embodiment and the phrase “in anotherembodiment” as used herein does not necessarily refer to a differentembodiment. It is intended, for example, that claimed subject matterinclude combinations of example embodiments in whole or in part.

FIG. 1 is a high-level depiction of an exemplary networked environment100 for evaluating conversions associated with advertisements. Theexemplary networked environment 100 includes users 110, a network 120,publishers 130, an ad exchange engine 140, advertisers 150, contentsources 160, an ad database 170, and a third party attribution provider(3PP) 180. The network 120 in networked environment 100 may be a singlenetwork or a combination of different networks. For example, a networkmay be a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a publicnetwork, a private network, a proprietary network, a Public TelephoneSwitched Network (PSTN), the Internet, a wireless network, or a virtualnetwork, or any combination thereof. In one embodiment, the network 120may be an online advertising network or an ad network, which connectsadvertisers 150 to publishers 130 or websites/mobile applications thatwant to host advertisements. A key function of an ad network isaggregation of ad-space supply from publishers and matching it withadvertiser demand. An ad network may be a television ad network, a printad network, an online (Internet) ad network, or a mobile ad network.

Users 110 may be of different types such as users connected to thenetwork via desktop connections (110-4), users connecting to the networkvia wireless connections such as through a laptop (110-3), a handheldmobile device (110-1), or a built-in device in a motor vehicle (110-2).User(s) 110 may be connected to the network and able to access andinteract with online content (provided by the publishers) throughwireless technologies and related operating systems implemented withinuser-wearable devices (e.g., glasses, wrist watch, etc.). A user, e.g.,the user 110-1, may send a request for online content to one of thepublishers, e.g., 130-1, via the network 120 and receive content throughthe network 120.

Publishers 130 may correspond to an entity, whether an individual, afirm, or an organization, having publishing business, such as atelevision station, a newspaper issuer, a web page host, an onlineservice provider, or a game server. For example, in connection to anonline or mobile ad network, publishers 130-1 . . . 130-2 can be anorganization such as USPTO.gov, a content provider such as CNN.com andYahoo.com, or a content-feed source such as tweeter or blogs. In oneembodiment, publishers 130 include entities that develop, support,and/or provide online content via mobile applications (e.g., installedon smartphones, tablet devices, etc.).

Referring to the above example, the content sent to user 110-1 may begenerated by the publisher 130-1 based on the content sources 160. Acontent source may correspond to an entity where the content wasoriginally generated and/or stored. For example, a novel may beoriginally printed in a magazine, but then posted online at a web sitecontrolled by a publisher. The content sources 160 in the exemplarynetworked environment 100 include multiple content sources 160-1, 160-2. . . 160-3.

When content is transmitted to the user 110-1, one or more advertisingopportunities may be available for one or more advertisements to bepresented with the content to the user 110-1. For an availableadvertising opportunity, a bid request may be sent out to advertisers tosolicit bids (in monetary terms) with respect to the advertisingopportunity. The bid request can be sent out by an ad server (not shownin FIG. 1 ) that manages the publisher 130-1. The ad server here servesas a supply side platform (SSP) for selling one or more advertisementopportunities by soliciting bids from one or more demand side platforms(DSP) and selecting a winning bid among the bids received from the DSPs.The bid request may be sent out to one or more DSPs.

The ad exchange engine 140 may serve as one DSP for buying one or moreadvertisement opportunities from an SSP, by executing a bidding processamongst advertisers 150 and submitting a bid to the SSP, after receivinga bid request from the SSP. An advertiser, e.g. 150-1, may correspond toan entity, whether an individual, a firm, or an organization, doing orplanning to do (or otherwise involved in) advertising business. As such,an advertiser (150-1 . . . 150-2) may be an entity that providesproduct(s) and/or service(s) on a platform (e.g., websites, mobileapplications, etc.) provided by a publisher (i.e., SSP).

Advertisers 150 may store their advertisements and bidding informationat the ad database 170 or at the ad exchange engine 140 that serves as abuyer agent for the advertisers 150. Upon receiving a bid request for anadvertisement opportunity, the ad exchange engine 140 may automaticallyrun an online process to identify a winning bid based on informationstored therein, without actually asking bids from each of theadvertisers 150-1 . . . 150-2. Alternatively, the ad exchange engine 140may also carry out a bidding process during which bids are solicitedfrom different advertisers and a winning bid is then selected based onthe bids. The winning bid selected by the ad exchange engine 140 is thensent to the SSP or the corresponding publisher. Referring to the aboveexample, the SSP or the publisher 130-1 may then select a highest bidfrom bids received from one or more ad exchange engines and provide anadvertisement associated with the highest bid along with the content tothe user 110-1.

The ad database 170 includes advertisements associated with theadvertisers 150. The ad database 170 may be connected to the ad exchangeengine 140, the advertisers 150, and the network 120. Therefore, afterthe publisher 130-1 selects a winning bid and determines one or moreadvertisements associated with the winning bid, the publisher 130-1 mayeither retrieve the determined advertisements via the ad exchange engine140 or directly from the ad database 170.

At least some of the advertisements, which are displayed by the variouspublishers, and viewed by the users, may result in conversionsassociated with the respective advertisements. As stated previously,advertisers are interested in identifying publisher(s) that yield a highrate of conversions. In order to identify such publishers, an advertisertransmits an advertisement evaluation request to the 3PP, 180. The 3PP180 communicates with multiple publishers to identify the appropriatepublisher(s) that were associated with a successful conversion relatedto the advertisement.

As depicted in FIG. 1 , the 3PP is a central entity responsible foridentifying the publisher(s) responsible for a conversion associatedwith the advertisement evaluation request. Such a framework has thefollowing drawbacks: the 3PP 180 may execute its own proprietaryprocess, without any supervision or control, to identify the publishersassociated with the conversion. Such a process may be configured with abias to favor certain publishers over others.

Accordingly, in what follows, there is provided by various embodimentsof the present disclosure, an unbiased framework for evaluating thesources (e.g., publishers) of conversions associated with differentadvertisements. The proposed framework eliminates the 3PP of FIG. 1 ,and provides a de-centralized approach for identifying publishers thatare responsible for the advertisement conversions in an accurate andtransparent manner.

FIG. 2 is a high-level depiction of an exemplary networked environment200 for evaluating sources of conversions associated withadvertisements, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentteaching. Similar to the networked environment 100 of FIG. 1 , theexemplary networked environment 200 includes users 110, a network 120,publishers 130, an ad exchange engine 140, advertisers 150, contentsources 160, and an ad database 170. Accordingly, for the sake ofbrevity, a description of these components is not repeated herein.However, in contrast to the networked environment 100, the networkedenvironment 200 of the present teaching includes a smart attributionevaluation package (SAEP) platform 220, and third party sellers 210.

By one embodiment, the SAEP platform 220 serves as a mechanism foradvertisers 150 to post (i.e. upload) it's generated SAEPs 220-1, 220-2,and 220-3, each of which is for evaluating one or more sources ofconversions associated with an advertisement. The SAEP platform 220 maybe made accessible to publishers 130. Thus, each publisher 130-1, 130-2,has an opportunity to access a particular SAEP e.g., 220-1 and provide aproof (e.g., an attribute or feature that is associated with theconversion) to the SAEP for claiming the respective conversionassociated with the SAEP 220-1. In this manner, as opposed to utilizinga centralized party (e.g., 3PP in FIG. 1 ) for evaluating sources ofconversions associated with advertisements, the present teachingprovides a decentralized approach (i.e., not governed by a singleentity) for evaluating sources of conversions. Details regarding theoperation of the SAEP 220-1, and the interactions between theadvertisers 150 and publishers 130 with the SAEP platform 220 aredescribed next.

By one embodiment, the advertiser 150 may obtain information related toa conversion associated with an advertisement. For example, theadvertiser 150 may obtain information of the conversion e.g., anapplication being downloaded on a mobile device of a user or a purchaseof a product via a click operation on the advertisement, and the like.Upon obtaining information about the conversion, the advertiser 150 maygenerate a SAEP, say 220-1, and post the generated SAEP on the SAEPplatform 220 for evaluation purposes. The information related to theconversion received by the advertiser 150 may be from a third partyseller 210, a manufacturer that sold the product, or a service providerthat allowed an application to be downloaded (i.e., a conversion). Notethat the conversion may be an online conversion or an offlineconversion.

It must be appreciated that generating and posting of the SAEP (220-1)as described herein is in no way limited to be performed only by theadvertiser 150. Rather, any party that is aware of a conversion maypotentially generate a SAEP and post it on the SAEP platform 220. Thisincludes a third party seller 210, such as a third party serviceprovider, a manufacturer, an online or offline vendor, etc., whichobtains information related to an online or offline conversionassociated with an advertisement. Moreover, by one embodiment, the SAEPplatform 220 may be implemented as a Blockchain (e.g., a publicBlockchain or a private Blockchain) that enables identifying, tracking,and sharing information associated with each SAEP (i.e., a block on theBlockchain) by the advertisers, publishers, and third party sellers in adistributed manner.

FIG. 3A illustrates an exemplary diagram of a SAEP, according to anembodiment of the present teaching. As illustrated in FIG. 3A, the SAEP220-1 includes an executable attribution evaluator 310 andmeta-information 320. FIG. 3B illustrates exemplary content included inthe meta-information 320, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent teaching.

As shown in FIG. 3B, the exemplary types of meta-information included inthe SAEP 220-1 includes an advertiser's ID, reward information,impression destination, a conversion ID, and optionally time-outinformation. The impression destination information may be furthercategorized based on publishers IDs. The information associated witheach publisher may include, for instance, a time at which the respectivepublisher displays the advertisements, a number of impressions of theadvertisements viewed and the like. In a similar manner, conversionassociated with the advertisement may include information such as a timeof conversation, a geo-location at which the conversion occurs, a typeof conversion (e.g., an online or offline conversion), a store ID for anoffline conversion (e.g., purchase of a product/commodity at a physicalstore).

Returning to FIG. 3A, the executable attribution evaluator 310 in theSAEP 220-1 is configured to perform the evaluation based on themeta-information 320 related to the conversion associated with theadvertisement. Based on the meta-information related to the conversion,the executable attribution evaluator 310 is configured to evaluatevarious claims (claims 1, 2, . . . , K) received from differentpublishers. The executable attribution evaluator 310 is furtherconfigured to identify one or more sources of the conversions (e.g.,publishers responsible for the conversions) based on themeta-information 320 and the information (e.g., proof information)submitted in the claims from the publishers.

In operation, the executable attribution evaluator 310 receives aplurality of claims submitted by one or more other entities e.g.,publishers that have previously displayed the advertisement, and whoclaim to be responsible for the conversion. The executable attributionevaluator 310 processes the received claims and the meta-information 320to estimate which publisher(s) may be responsible for the conversion. Insome embodiments, the executable attribution evaluator 310 may update,based on the selected responsible publisher, the meta-information 320.Details regarding the processing performed by the executable attributionevaluator 310 are described later with reference to FIGS. 7A and 7B.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary diagram of an advertiser e.g.,advertiser 150-1, which generates a SAEP (e.g. 220-1) based on aconversion event, and posts the generated SAEP 220-1 on the SAEPplatform 220 according to an embodiment of the present teaching. Theadvertiser 150-1 in this embodiment includes a conversion receiving unit410, a SAEP creating/updating unit 420, a SAEP initiating unit 430, aconversion database 440, a reward determining unit 460, an updatereceiving unit 470, and optionally a timing unit 450. Optionally, theadvertiser may also include a timing model 455, a reward model 465, anda renew model 475, which are used by corresponding units of theadvertiser as described below.

The conversion receiving unit 410 is configured to receive notificationof a conversion associated with an advertisement. In some embodiments,the conversion received by the conversion receiving unit 410 may includeconversion data related to the conversion. The conversion data mayinclude a time at which the conversion occurred, a geo-location of theconversion, or any other parameters characterizing the conversion. Insome embodiments, the conversion data may be received from amanufacturer that entrusted the advertiser in advertising its goods andencountered the conversion event (e.g., a user clicked on an ad to linkto the entity to order the advertised goods), from a distributor of thegoods advertised, or from a third-party service provider that monitorsthe conversions that either occurred online or offline. The conversiondata upon being received, may be stored in the conversion database 440.Additionally, information related to the corresponding advertisement maybe obtained from an ad database 170 and stored with the conversion datarelated to the advertisement in the conversion database 440.

The SAEP creating/updating unit 420 is configured to generate the SAEPfor the conversion associated with the advertisement. As describedherein, a SAEP includes the meta-information 320 and the executableattribution evaluator 310. To create the SAEP, the advertiser (e.g.,150-1) creates both the executable attribution evaluator 310 as well asthe meta-information 320. As disclosed previously, the meta-information320 includes various features associated with the conversion, includingtime of the conversion, location of the conversion, etc. In someembodiments, in creating the meta-information 320 in a SAEP, the SAEPcreating/updating unit 420 may optionally include a time-out period anda reward associated with the SAEP. By one embodiment, the timing unit450 generates the time-out period of the SAEP in accordance with atiming model 455, and the reward determining unit 460 generates thereward in accordance with a reward model 465. Thus, as shown in FIG. 4 ,the SAEP creating/updating unit 420 incorporates the time-out period andthe reward information from the timing unit 450 and reward determiningunit 460, respectively, in generating the SAEP. Once the SAEP is createdby the SAEP creating/updating unit 420, it activates the SAEP initiatingunit 430 to transmit the generated SAEP 220-1 to the SAEP platform 220to be posted.

The update receiving unit 470 of the advertiser is configured to updatethe information stored in the conversion database 440 when the source(s)of the conversions are identified by the SAEPs posted on the SAEPplatform. In operation, when the source (e.g., a publisher) of aconversion is identified, the SAEP that identified the source sendsinformation related to the identified source of the conversion to theupdate receiving unit 470. In some situations, the source of aconversion may not be identified. For example, within a specifiedtime-out period, no claim is considered as credible enough to conclude amatch. Whether a matched source is identified for a conversion or not,the SAEP may always inform the advertiser of the outcome.

In the event of a successful identification of the source of theconversion, the update receiving unit 470 receives (from the SAEP)information of the publisher (e.g., publisher ID etc.) that isresponsible for the conversion. The update receiving unit 470 may thentransmit the information related to the publisher to the conversiondatabase 440 to be stored.

In contrast, in the event of receiving a notification of anunsuccessfully claimed conversion, the update receiving unit 470 isconfigured to update at least one parameter included in the initiallygenerated SAEP in accordance with a renew model 475. Specifically, theupdate receiving unit 470 is configured to update at least one of thetime-out period and the reward included in the SAEP. By one embodiment,the renew model 475 may be configured to update operational parametersof the reward model 465 and/or the timing model 455, to generate updatedvalues of the time-out period and/or the reward. The SAEPcreating/updating unit 420 may trigger the SAEP initiating unit 430 toupdate the SAEP (posted on the SAEP platform) with the newly generatedtime-out period and/or reward information. Thereafter, the advertiser150 awaits to receive evaluation information of the conversionassociated with the advertisement from the SAEP. In some embodiments,the unsuccessful attempt to identify the publisher responsible for theconversion may be used to conclude the effort to locate the conversionsource. In this case, the update receiving unit 470 may simply record inthe conversion database 440 that no publisher for the conversion hasbeen located.

It must be appreciated that although the generating and performing theattribution evaluation of a source of the conversion is provided withrespect to an advertiser, it can also be applied to any third party thatis not an advertiser, including a third party service provider thatcarries out the attribution evaluation either independently or on behalfof the advertiser. So long as such a third party has a channel to gaininformation about conversions and is in a position to reward a source ofconversion for yielding such conversions, such a third party canimplement the aspects of the teaching to achieve the same.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an exemplary process performed by an advertiserin attribution evaluation, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent teaching. As discussed herein, although the description hereinrefers to an advertiser, any third party may also perform such exemplaryprocess to achieve attribution evaluation. According to the presentteaching, at step 510, the advertiser, say 150-1, receives informationregarding a conversion associated with an advertisement. Upon receivingsuch information, at step 520, the advertiser initiates the process ofgenerating a SAEP to be posted on the SAEP platform for evaluationpurposes. Note that the SAEP is generated corresponding to a conversionassociated with an advertisement for identifying a source (publisher) atwhich the display of the advertisement yielded the conversion. Onceposted on the SAEP platform, the generated SAEP evaluates various claimsfrom corresponding publishers and identifies one or more claims as thecredible sources responsible for the conversion.

At steps 530 and 540, the advertiser also determines a reward andoptionally a time-out period that is to be incorporated in the SAEP. Asdiscussed previously with reference to FIG. 4 , the reward may bedetermined in accordance with a reward model and the reward may becharacterized by various parameters determined based on the rewardmodel. Similarly, the time-out period may be determined in accordancewith a timing model. The time out period may be characterized byparameters such as a number of minutes, hours, or days, etc.

Further, at step 550 various meta-information such as the advertiser'sID, advertisement ID, etc., is incorporated into the SAEP. For instance,the advertiser's ID may be used by the SAEP for reporting the status ofthe attribution evaluation. At step 560, the generated SAEP is posted onthe SAEP platform, where after the advertiser may wait for furthercommunication from the SAEP regarding the updated status information onthe attribution evaluation. At step 570, the advertiser receives astatus of attribution evaluation from the SAEP, specifically from theexecutable attribution evaluator 310.

At step 580, it is determined whether the source of the conversionassociated with an advertisement is successfully identified. If thesource is successfully identified the SAEP is updated and concluded atstep 595. However, if the source is not successfully identified, it isfurther determined at step 585, whether at least one parameter of theSAEP is to be updated. If no parameters of the SAEP are to be updated,the process of FIG. 5 is terminated by terminating and concluding theSAEP at step 595. If at least one parameter of the SAEP is to beupdated, then the advertiser proceeds to update the at least oneparameter of the SAEP at step 590. For example, by one embodiment, thetime-out period of the SAEP and/or the reward associated with the SAEPmay be updated at step 590. Upon updating the parameter(s) of the SAEP,the process loops back to step 570, where the advertiser awaits forreceiving an updated status of the evaluation of the conversion.

In some embodiments, in concluding the SAEP, the update receiving unit470 may update the conversion database using the status informationreceived from the SAEP. For example, if there is a successfulidentification of a publisher, determined at step 580, the identifiedsource (publisher) and the reward provided may be recorded in theconversion database as a conclusion. If there is no identification of apublisher and no SAEP update, the conversion database is updated with anindication that no publisher is identified and no reward is provided toconclude the evaluation. In some embodiments, at the conclusion, theSAEP may be deleted from the SAEP platform.

FIG. 6A illustrates an exemplary system diagram of a publisher inconnection with claiming attributions to conversions, according to anembodiment of the present teaching. In this embodiment, the publisher130 (e.g., publisher 130-1) includes a SAEP preprocessing unit 610, aparsing unit 615, a parameter extraction unit 620, a processing unit625, a claim generating unit 630, an impression database 635, atransmitting-receiving unit 640, a trigger unit 645, a request presencedetermining unit 650, and a time model 655. The publisher is configuredto access SAEPs posted on the SAEP platform and then make claims tocertain SAEPs when the conversation parameters may present a match withthe impressions of advertisements made by the publisher.

In operation, the SAEP preprocessing unit 610 accesses a SAEP posted onthe SAEP platform to obtain and preprocess the meta-information includedin the SAEP to determine whether to generate a claim for a conversionrelated to the SAEP. By one embodiment, the SAEP preprocessing unit 610may process the meta-information to determine whether there is a match.Such a match may be determined based on, e.g., a publisher's ID, whichcan be used to inspect whether it is included in the meta-information asthe impression destination (shown in FIG. 3B). If the publisher's ID isincluded in the meta-information as an impression destination, the SAEPpreprocessing unit 610 transmits the meta-information to the parsingunit 615 for further processing.

The parsing unit 615 parses the meta-information to identify keyparameters included therein. For example, the parameter extraction unit620 may extract one or more conversion parameters from themeta-information, such as a timestamp parameter representing the time atwhich the conversion occurred, a geo-location parameter indicating wherethe conversion occurred, or any other parameter that characterizes theconversion associated with the SAEP. As disclosed herein, suchconversion parameters are incorporated in the meta-information by theparty that generates the SAEP (advertiser or a third party) forevaluating the attributor of the conversion. Such extracted conversionparameters are then transmitted to the processing unit 625.

In order to generate a claim for the conversion, the processing unit 625is configured to match the extracted conversion parameters withfeatures/attributes associated with the impressions of advertisementmade previously by the publisher. In some embodiments, the publishermaintains a plurality of features related to impressions ofadvertisements previously displayed in an impression database 635. Forexample, the impression data may include features such as a number ofimpressions for an advertisement and their respective time stamps,geo-locations of where the impressions of the advertisement were made(e.g., where the viewers are shown the impressions), a duration of eachimpression of the advertisement, and the like. This is illustrated inFIG. 6B. The exemplary features as shown in FIG. 6B are monitored andcollected by the publisher and may be used in matching with theconversion parameters from the meta-information.

Returning to FIG. 6A, the processing unit 625 of the publisher isconfigured to match the extracted conversion parameters with impressionfeatures stored in the impression database 635 of the publisher. Forexample, if the extracted conversion parameter includes a time stamprepresenting a time instant of the conversion, the processing unit 625may be configured to match the time stamp by checking whether there isany impression that has a time stamp close to the conversion time stamp.The impression time stamp(s) may not be exactly the same as theconversion time stamp because in general a conversion occurs after theimpression is made. When a match in terms of time is found, additionalmatch may need also to be performed. For example, the geo-locationparameter from the meta-information may also be used to determinewhether the impression(s) that corresponds to the conversion time ismade at a geo-location that is the same or substantially similar to thegeo-location of the conversion. If it is an online conversion, thegeo-location likely will be the same. If it is a offline conversion, thegeo-location of the conversion may be in the same vicinity as thegeo-location of the impression (e.g., go to a local store to buy theadvertised goods). If there is consistent matches across such importantfeatures/parameters, the publisher may determine that there is adequateevidence that it's display of the advertisement led to the conversionand, thus, a claim can be made. Upon determining a match, the claimgenerating unit 630 generates a claim to be sent to the SAEP and such aclaim may incorporate the features associated with the matchingimpression(s) as evidence (i.e., a proof) to support the claim for thereward. The transmitting-receiving unit 640 then transmits the generatedclaim to the SAEP to be evaluated whether a reward is to be allocated tothe publisher according to the claim.

By one embodiment, if the SAEP preprocessing unit 610 does not receive anotification of a SAEP posted on the SAEP platform, the SAEPpreprocessing unit activates the trigger unit 645. The trigger unit 645may then activate the request presence determining unit 650, inaccordance with the time model 655, to poll the SAEP platform or requestthe presence of a posted SAEP on the SAEP platform. Upon determining thepresence of a SAEP on the SAEP platform, the preprocessing unit 610 mayaccess meta-information of the posted SAEP to determine whether a claimis to be generated as described above. It must be appreciated thatalthough the above is described with respect to a publisher, in someembodiments, any third party that is entrusted by a publisher andprovided with sufficient information related to the impressions made bythe entrusting publisher can perform the above described tasks. In otherwords, any third party entrusted by a publisher can generate appropriateclaims and communicate with SAEPs in order to seek rewards associatedwith successful conversions.

FIG. 6C is a flowchart of an exemplary process performed by a publisher,in accordance with an embodiment of the present teaching. In accordancewith the exemplary process, at step 650, the publisher receives anotification from the SAEP platform or gains knowledge via other means(such as polling the SAEP platform 220) regarding the availability of aSAEP posted (either by an advertiser or by a third party) on the SAEPplatform.

At step 655, the publisher accesses a SAEP posted on the SAEP platformto determine whether a claim for a conversion associated with the SAEPis to be generated. By one embodiment, the publisher may access themeta-information of the SAEP (as shown in FIG. 3B) to determine whetherthere is a match, e.g., determining whether the publisher's ID isincluded in the meta-information and/or whether the conversiongeo-location is consistent with the impression locations. If a match isfound to be sufficient, the publisher may determine to generate a claimfor the conversion associated with the advertisement. In contrast, if nomatch is found, the publisher may determine not to generate a claim forthe conversion associated with the advertisement.

At step 660, it is determined whether a claim is to be generated. If aclaim is to be generated, then the publisher parses the SAEP at step665. However, if a claim is not to be generated, the process of claimingthe conversion associated with the advertisement is terminated (step685).

Upon parsing the SAEP, at step 670, a conversion parameter is extractedfrom the SAEP. By one embodiment, the conversion parameter may be a timestamp corresponding to a time instant at which the conversion occurred.Alternatively, the conversion parameter may be a geo-location parametercorresponding to a geographical location where the conversion occurred.At step 675, the publisher generates a claim for the SAEP by matchingthe extracted conversion parameter to a feature (related to theadvertisement) included in the impression database of the publisher.Further, at step 680, the publisher submits the generated claim to theSAEP, where after the attribution process is terminated at step 685.

FIG. 7A illustrates an exemplary diagram of an executable attributionevaluator 310, in accordance with an embodiment of the present teaching.In this embodiment, the executable attribution evaluator 310 includes anattribute extracting unit 705, a SAEP evaluation unit 715, a SAEP updateunit 725, a time-out period extraction unit 710, a timing unit 720, anda conversion parameter extractor 730.

The conversion parameter extractor 730 is configured to obtainmet-information included in the SAEP, and extract a conversion parameterof the conversion associated with the advertisement. By one embodiment,the conversion parameter may be a time stamp corresponding to a timeinstant at which the conversion occurred, or a geo-location parametercorresponding to a geographical location where the conversion occurred.It must be appreciated that the conversion parameter may be any otherparameter associated with the conversion. The conversion parameterextractor 730 transmits the extracted conversion parameter to the SAEPevaluation unit 715.

By one embodiment, the time-out period extraction unit 710 is configuredto obtain the meta-information and extract a time-out period associatedwith the conversion. The time-out period extraction unit 710 transmitsthe extracted time-out period to the timing unit 720. By one embodiment,the timing unit 720 triggers the SAEP evaluation unit 715, and activatesa clock (e.g., a countdown clock) having a magnitude equal to thetime-out period. In this manner, the SAEP evaluation unit 715 instructsthe attribution extraction unit 705 to receive claims (e.g., Claims 1,2, . . . K) from the publishers until the expiration of the time-outperiod (i.e., before expiration of the countdown clock).

The attribute extracting unit 705 obtains a plurality of claimssubmitted by various publishers. Note that each publisher attempts toclaim the conversion associated with the advertisement, by generating(and transmitting to the SAEP) a claim, which includes a proof e.g., anattribute or a feature associated with the conversion. Upon receivingall the claims, the SAEP evaluation unit 715 determines a winning claim(from the plurality of claims) based on the extracted conversionparameter that is obtained from the conversion parameter extractor 730,and the features included in the plurality of claims that are submittedby the publishers.

Specifically, the SAEP evaluation unit 715 is configured to compare theextracted feature from each claim with the conversion parameter. TheSAEP evaluation unit 715 is further configured to determine a winningclaim, defined herein as the claim that has an exact match (or a closestmatch) between the extracted feature and the conversion parameter. Inthis manner, the SAEP evaluation unit 715 determines the winning claimand identifies the publisher associated with the winning claim. Forinstance, consider that the conversion parameter is a time stampcorresponding to the time instant at which the conversion occurred. Inthis scenario, the SAEP evaluation unit 715 compares for each claim, theextracted feature (i.e., time parameter which is submitted as a proof inthe claim by the publisher) with the time stamp conversion parameter todetermine the winning claim.

Upon determining the winning claim, the SAEP update unit 725 isconfigured to communicate to the advertiser, relevant information (e.g.,publisher's ID etc.) of the publisher associated with the winning claim.Moreover, the SAEP update unit 725 allocates the reward associated withthe SAEP to the publisher associated with the winning claim.Additionally, by one embodiment, the SAEP update unit 725 is configuredto update the meta-information associated with each publisher. Forinstance, referring to FIG. 3B, the SAEP update unit 725 may updatemeta-information including features such as time, number of impressions,etc. that are submitted as proof in the claims by the respectivepublishers.

FIG. 7B is a flowchart of an exemplary process performed by anattribution evaluator, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentteaching. For example, the process as depicted in FIG. 7B may beperformed by the executable attribution evaluator 310. At step 750, theattribution evaluator obtains a time-out period associated with theSAEP. At step 755, the attribution evaluator extracts a conversionparameter associated with the SAEP. For instance, the attributionevaluator may extract the time out period as well as the conversionparameter from meta-information included in the SAEP. As statedpreviously, the conversion parameter may be a time stamp correspondingto a time instant at which the conversion occurred. Alternatively, theconversion parameter may be a geo-location parameter corresponding to ageographical location where the conversion occurred.

At step 760, the attribution evaluator receives a claim (e.g., from apublisher) for the conversion associated with an advertisement. At step765, it is determined whether the time out period of the SAEP isexpired. If the time-out period has not expired, the process loops backto step 760, where the attribution evaluator receives additional claims(if any) for the conversion associated with the advertisement. If thetime-out period of the SAEP has expired, the attribution evaluator atstep 770 extracts a feature from each received claim. Note that thefeature in each claim corresponds to a proof (i.e. the attribute)submitted by the respective publisher to claim the conversion associatedwith the advertisement.

At step 775, the attribution evaluator updates the meta-informationassociated with each publisher. For example, referring to FIG. 7A andFIG. 3B, the SAEP update unit 725 may update meta-information includingfeatures such as time, number of impressions, etc. that are submitted tothe SAEP by the respective publishers.

At step 780, the attribution evaluator determines a winning claim basedon matching the extracted conversion parameter with the features (i.e.,attributes) included in each of the claims submitted by the publishers.Further, at step 785, the attribution evaluator rewards the publishercorresponding to the determined winning claim. Specifically, as statedpreviously, the reward included in the SAEP is allocated to thepublisher associated with the winning claim.

By one embodiment, the attribution evaluator may penalize certainpublisher(s) based on comparisons of the features submitted by thepublishers in the respective claims with the conversion parameter. Forinstance, consider that the conversion parameter included in the SAEP isa time instant corresponding to the time of occurrence of theconversion. Further, consider that the features (i.e. attributes)submitted in the respective claims by the publishers are time stampscorresponding to the time instances that the publishers detected orobserved conversion(s) associated with the advertisement. By oneembodiment, if the time stamps submitted by certain publishers are notwithin a threshold amount of time with respect to the time instantconversion parameter included in the SAEP, then the attributionevaluator may penalize those publishers e.g., a monetary penalization.In this manner, the attribution evaluator may discourage certainpublishers from submitting claims to a conversion to which thosepublishers are likely not the source of conversion. Moreover, in doingso, it must be appreciated that the processing requirements of theattribution evaluator may also be reduced, as publishers would refrainfrom submitting unnecessary claims to the SAEP.

Further, the attribution evaluator at step 790 notifies the advertiserregarding the evaluation of the conversion associated with theadvertisement. Specifically, if the source of the conversion (e.g., apublisher) is successfully identified, then the attribution evaluatornotifies the advertiser with information such as the publisher's ID,number of impressions detected, etc. In contrast, if no source of theconversion is identified by the attribution evaluator, the same may bereported to the advertiser. Upon notifying the advertiser informationpertaining to the evaluation of conversion, the process as depicted inFIG. 7B terminates.

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary protocol scheme 800 of an attributionprocess, in accordance with an embodiment of the present teaching. Asstated previously, the process of linking a conversion to a clickoperation (or any other measureable action) performed on anadvertisement is referred to herein as an attribution process. In thisexemplary scheme, there comprises four parties involved in theattribution process, including a user 810, an advertiser 820, SAEP 830,and publishers 840. For sake of convenience, the conversion with respectto the attribution process of FIG. 8 is assumed to be a purchase of aproduct by the user 810.

Consider the scenario where the user 810 views an advertisement providedby the advertiser 820 on a mobile device. The user 810 may perform aclick operation on the advertisement, and thereafter purchase theproduct associated with the advertisement. The purchase of the productby the user 810 results in a conversion associated with theadvertisement. As stated previously, the advertiser 820 may be notifiedof such a conversion by a third party service provider. As shown in FIG.8 , the conversion event (i.e., the purchase of the product by the user)is notified to the advertiser 820 e.g., via a conversion beacon signal.

When the advertiser 820 is notified of the conversion, the advertiser820 generates a SAEP 830. The generated SAEP is posted on a SAEPplatform. Thereafter, either the SAEP may notify the publishers 840 ofthe presence of the SAEP on the platform or alternatively, thepublishers 840 may poll the platform to request the presence of a newlyposted SAEP.

Within a time-out period associated with the SAEP, the SAEP receivesclaims from a plurality of publishers. In the event that the SAEP 830receives no claims from any publishers, the SAEP may be deleted from theSAEP platform, or alternatively, by one embodiment, the time-out periodof the SAEP may be extended to allow additional time for the publishersto submit claims to the SAEP.

The SAEP 830 evaluates each claim received from the publishers anddetermines a winning claim. As stated previously, the SAEP determinesthe winning claim based on a conversion parameter included in the SAEP830 and the features (i.e. proofs) included in the each claim submittedby the publishers. The SAEP 830 further notifies the publisherassociated with the winning claim and allocates a reward included in theSAEP 830 to the corresponding publisher. Additionally, the SAEP 830notifies the advertiser 820 of a successful completion of theattribution evaluation process, and transmits information of thepublisher associated with the winning claim to the advertiser 820.

FIG. 9 illustrates another protocol scheme 900 of an attributionprocess, in accordance with an embodiment of the present teaching. Inthis exemplary scheme, there comprises four parties involved in theattribution process, including user(s) 910, an advertiser 920, a SAEP930, and publishers 940. As stated previously, by one embodiment, theSAEP may be implemented on a Blockchain. For sake of convenience, it isassumed that the advertiser 920 communicates only with a set of knownpublishers 940 (e.g., Yahoo, Google, and Facebook). Further, theconversion with respect to the attribution process of FIG. 9 is assumedto be one of a downloading of an application by the user(s) 810 on theirrespective mobile devices. Thus, the framework as depicted in FIG. 9 maycorrespond to communication that occurs between entities in a closedloop Blockchain.

As shown in FIG. 9 , the publishers 940 provide the advertiser 920 witha public key. The advertiser generates a SAEP and posts it on the SAEPplatform (e.g. Blockchain platform). Thereafter the advertiser transmitsa SAEP key to all the publishers. It must be appreciated that thecommunication between the entities involved in the present scheme is anencrypted communication based on the public key and the SAEP key.

As users install the application (also referred to herein as “app”), theadvertiser is notified of the conversion via a beacon signal. Accordingto one embodiment, the advertiser 920 may aggregate multipleconversions, and update the SAEP 930 with the conversions to be claimedby the publishers 940. Alternatively, the advertiser 920 may update theSAEP 930 on a conversion-by-conversion basis (i.e., every conversion isupdated in the SAEP individually).

Further, either the SAEP 930 may notify the publishers 940 of thepresence of the SAEP on the platform or the publishers 840 maycontinuously poll the SAEP platform to request the presence of a postedSAEP. Within a time-out period associated with the SAEP, the SAEPreceives claims (with respect to each conversion) from the publishers940. In the event that the SAEP 930 does not receive any claims from thepublishers 940, the SAEP 930 may be deleted from the SAEP platform.Alternatively, as stated previously, the time-out period of the SAEP maybe extended to allow additional time for the publishers 940 to submitclaims to the SAEP.

The SAEP 930 evaluates each claim received from the publishers 940 anddetermines a winning claim for each conversion. As stated previously,the SAEP determines the winning claim based on a conversion parameterincluded in the SAEP 930 and the features included in the plurality ofclaims (i.e., proofs) submitted by the publishers 940. The SAEP 930further notifies the publisher associated with the winning claim andallocates a reward included in the SAEP 930 to the correspondingpublisher. Additionally, the SAEP 930 notifies the advertiser 920 of asuccessful completion of the attribution evaluation process, andtransmits information of the publisher associated with the winning claimto the advertiser 920.

Turning now to FIG. 10 , there is depicted an architecture of a mobiledevice 1000 which can be used to realize a specialized systemimplementing the present teaching. In one example, the user device onwhich content and advertisement are presented and interacted-with is amobile device 1000, including, but is not limited to, a smart phone, atablet, a music player, a handled gaming console, a global positioningsystem (GPS) receiver, and a wearable computing device (e.g.,eyeglasses, wrist watch, etc.), or in any other form factor.Additionally, the mobile device 1000 can be used to implement thefunctionalities of the smart attribute evaluation package (SAEP) asdescribed herein.

The mobile device 1000 in this example includes one or more centralprocessing units (CPUs) 1040, one or more graphic processing units(GPUs) 1030, a display 1020, a memory 1060, a communication platform1010, such as a wireless communication module, storage 1090, and one ormore input/output (I/O) devices 1050. Any other suitable component,including but not limited to a system bus or a controller (not shown),may also be included in the mobile device 1000. As shown in FIG. 10 , amobile operating system 1070, e.g., iOS, Android, Windows Phone, etc.,and one or more applications 1080 may be loaded into the memory 1060from the storage 1090 in order to be executed by the CPU 1040. Theapplications 1080 may include a browser or any other suitable mobileapps for receiving and rendering content streams and advertisements onthe mobile device 1000, as well as executing the functionalities of theSAEP as discussed herein. User interactions with the content streams andadvertisements may be achieved via the I/O devices 1050.

To implement various modules, units, and their functionalities describedin the present disclosure, computer hardware platforms may be used asthe hardware platform(s) for one or more of the elements describedherein. The hardware elements, operating systems and programminglanguages of such computers are conventional in nature, and it ispresumed that those skilled in the art are adequately familiar therewithto adapt those technologies to explore the teachings of the presentdisclosure. A computer with user interface elements may be used toimplement a personal computer (PC) or other type of workstation orterminal device, although a computer may also act as a server ifappropriately programmed. It is believed that those skilled in the artare familiar with the structure, programming and general operation ofsuch computer equipment and as a result, the drawings should beself-explanatory.

FIG. 11 is an illustrative diagram of an exemplary computer systemarchitecture, in accordance with various embodiments of the presentteaching. Such a specialized system incorporating the present teachinghas a functional block diagram illustration of a hardware platform,which includes user interface elements. Computer 1100 may be a generalpurpose computer or a special purpose computer. Both can be used toimplement a specialized system for the present teaching. Computer 1300may be used to implement any component of the advertiser system, thepublisher system, and the SAEP as described herein. For example, systems130, 150, 220, and 310 as described above may be implemented on acomputer such as computer 1100 via its hardware, software program,firmware, or a combination thereof. Although only one such computer isshown, for convenience, the computer functions relating to the abovestated systems may be implemented in a distributed fashion on a numberof similar platforms, to distribute the processing load.

Computer 1100, for example, may include communication ports 1150connected to and from a network connected thereto to facilitate datacommunications. Computer 1100 also includes a central processing unit(CPU) 1120, in the form of one or more processors, for executing programinstructions. The exemplary computer platform may also include aninternal communication bus 1110, program storage and data storage ofdifferent forms (e.g., disk 1170, read only memory (ROM) 1130, or randomaccess memory (RAM) 1140), for various data files to be processed and/orcommunicated by computer 1100, as well as possibly program instructionsto be executed by CPU 1120. Computer 1100 may also include an I/Ocomponent 1160 supporting input/output flows between the computer andother components therein such as user interface elements 1180. Computer1100 may also receive programming and data via network communications.

Hence, aspects of the methods for advertisement evaluations, as outlinedabove, may be embodied in programming. Program aspects of the technologymay be thought of as “products” or “articles of manufacture” typicallyin the form of executable code and/or associated data that is carried onor embodied in a type of machine-readable medium. Tangiblenon-transitory “storage” type media include any or all of the memory orother storage for the computers, processors or the like, or associatedmodules thereof, such as various semiconductor memories, tape drives,disk drives and the like, which may provide storage at any time for thesoftware programming.

All or portions of the software may at times be communicated through anetwork such as the Internet or various other telecommunicationnetworks. Such communications, for example, may enable loading of thesoftware from one computer or processor into another, for example, froma management server or host computer into the hardware platform(s) of acomputing environment or other system implementing a computingenvironment or similar functionalities in connection with evaluatingconversions associated with advertisements. Thus, another type of mediathat may bear the software elements includes optical, electrical andelectromagnetic waves, such as used across physical interfaces betweenlocal devices, through wired and optical landline networks and overvarious air-links. The physical elements that carry such waves, such aswired or wireless links, optical links or the like, also may beconsidered as media bearing the software. As used herein, unlessrestricted to tangible “storage” media, terms such as computer ormachine “readable medium” refer to any medium that participates inproviding instructions to a processor for execution.

Hence, a machine-readable medium may take many forms, including but notlimited to, a tangible storage medium, a carrier wave medium or physicaltransmission medium. Non-volatile storage media include, for example,optical or magnetic disks, such as any of the storage devices in anycomputer(s) or the like, which may be used to implement the system orany of its components as shown in the drawings. Volatile storage mediainclude dynamic memory, such as a main memory of such a computerplatform. Tangible transmission media include coaxial cables; copperwire and fiber optics, including the wires that form a bus within acomputer system. Carrier-wave transmission media may take the form ofelectric or electromagnetic signals, or acoustic or light waves such asthose generated during radio frequency (RF) and infrared (IR) datacommunications. Common forms of computer-readable media thereforeinclude for example: a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetictape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD or DVD-ROM, any otheroptical medium, punch cards paper tape, any other physical storagemedium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM and EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM,any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave transporting data orinstructions, cables or links transporting such a carrier wave, or anyother medium from which a computer may read programming code and/ordata. Many of these forms of computer readable media may be involved incarrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions to a physicalprocessor for execution.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that the present teachings areamenable to a variety of modifications and/or enhancements. For example,although the implementation of various components described above may beembodied in a hardware device, it may also be implemented as a softwareonly solution—e.g., an installation on an existing server. In addition,the techniques of evaluating conversions associated with advertisements,as disclosed herein, may be implemented as a firmware, firmware/softwarecombination, firmware/hardware combination, or ahardware/firmware/software combination.

While the foregoing has described what are considered to constitute thepresent teachings and/or other examples, it is understood that variousmodifications may be made thereto and that the subject matter disclosedherein may be implemented in various forms and examples, and that theteachings may be applied in numerous applications, only some of whichhave been described herein. It is intended by the following claims toclaim any and all applications, modifications and variations that fallwithin the true scope of the present teachings.

We claim:
 1. A method for advertising, comprising: obtaining, by anadvertiser computing system, information about a conversion associatedwith an advertisement; generating, with respect to the conversion, anoperational smart attribution evaluation package (SAEP) including atime-out period and a reward; deploying the SAEP on a blockchain toallow one or more entities that displayed the advertisement to claim anassociation with the conversion; receiving, within the time-out period,an indication that none of the one or more entities is associated withthe conversion; and updating the SAEP by modifying at least one of thetime-out period and the reward.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein thestep of obtaining information about the conversion associated with theadvertisement and the step of receiving the indication that none of theone or more entities is associated with the conversion are performedwithin the blockchain.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the blockchainis a closed loop blockchain.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein thetime-out period is generated based on a timing model, and the reward isgenerated based on a reward model.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein theupdating comprises updating one or more operational parameters of atleast one of the timing model and the reward model.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising receiving information indicating that nosource of the conversion is identified.
 7. The method of claim 1,wherein the one or more entities are one or more publishers.
 8. Anon-transitory, computer-readable medium having information recordedthereon for advertising, wherein the information, when read by amachine, causes the machine to perform operations comprising: obtaining,by an advertiser computing system, information about a conversionassociated with an advertisement; generating, with respect to theconversion, an operational smart attribution evaluation package (SAEP)including a time-out period and a reward; deploying the SAEP on ablockchain to allow one or more entities that displayed theadvertisement to claim an association with the conversion; receiving,within the time-out period, an indication that none of the one or moreentities is associated with the conversion; and updating the SAEP bymodifying at least one of the time-out period and the reward.
 9. Themedium of claim 8, wherein the operation of obtaining information aboutthe conversion associated with the advertisement and the operation ofreceiving the indication that none of the one or more entities isassociated with the conversion are performed within the blockchain. 10.The medium of claim 8, wherein the blockchain is a closed loopblockchain.
 11. The medium of claim 8, wherein the time-out period isgenerated based on a timing model, and the reward is generated based ona reward model.
 12. The medium of claim 11, wherein the updatingcomprises updating one or more operational parameters of at least one ofthe timing model and the reward model.
 13. The medium of claim 8,wherein the operations further comprise receiving information indicatingthat no source of the conversion is identified.
 14. The medium of claim8, wherein the one or more entities are one or more publishers.
 15. Asystem for advertising, the system comprising: memory storing computerprogram instructions; and one or more processors that, in response toexecuting the computer program instructions, effectuate operationscomprising: obtaining, by an advertiser computing system, informationabout a conversion associated with an advertisement; generating, withrespect to the conversion, an operational smart attribution evaluationpackage (SAEP) including a time-out period and a reward; deploying theSAEP on a blockchain to allow one or more entities that displayed theadvertisement to claim an association with the conversion; receiving,within the time-out period, an indication that none of the one or moreentities is associated with the conversion; and updating the SAEP bymodifying at least one of the time-out period and the reward.
 16. Thesystem of claim 15, wherein the operation of obtaining information aboutthe conversion associated with the advertisement and the operation ofreceiving the indication that none of the one or more entities isassociated with the conversion are performed within the blockchain. 17.The system of claim 15, wherein the blockchain is a closed loopblockchain.
 18. The system of claim 15, wherein the time-out period isgenerated based on a timing model, and the reward is generated based ona reward model.
 19. The system of claim 18, wherein the updatingcomprises updating one or more operational parameters of at least one ofthe timing model and the reward model.
 20. The system of claim 15, theoperations further comprise receiving information indicating that nosource of the conversion is identified.